Lévi-Strauss: Structuralism and Sociological Theory

Lévi-Strauss: Structuralism and Sociological Theory

Lévi-Strauss: Structuralism and Sociological Theory

Excerpt

This is not a book written by a believer in structuralism. If it were, I do not think that it would be very helpful to those to whom it is principally addressed. It is a book written for those whose interest in structuralism, and in Lévi-Strauss in particular, arises mainly from a concern with the place of structuralism and its major exponent in modern sociology and anthropology. I have written it very much from the point of view of sociological theory and the history of sociological thought. Students of the social sciences and the general reader who has some familiarity with the field will, I hope, find it useful. Those who know more about structuralism, and particularly about Lévi-Strauss, will probably not always agree with me, but will, I hope, find what I have to say worthy of consideration. Specialists will probably be scandalized by the absence of structuralist jargon and an approach which may appear too simple for the works of a writer such as Lévi-Strauss. For this I am unrepentant, and feel that, given the limited aims of this book, intelligibility takes priority over faithful adherence to the master's frequently untraceable footsteps through the labyrinth of structuralism.

As far as my own safe passage through it is concerned, I owe a debt of gratitude to Professors Donald MacRae, David Martin and Ernest Gellner, and especially to Professor Percy Cohen.